Raptor (Primeval)
'''Dromaeosaurus', also known as a raptor, is a dinosaur, a species of Dromaeosaur (uncertain) from the Cretaceous period. It has appeared numerous times in Primeval, and is the first true dinosaur to appear in the show. Dromaeosaurus appears in series 2, series 3 and series 4. Facts Dromaeosaurus are members from the family of dinosaurs Dromaeosauridae, all raptors have big slashing teeth that were used for feeding, if a raptor lost a teeth, it could grow new teeth. They have big, wing-like arms that gave them stability during a chase, these arms also allowed them to positionate themselves into the back of the prey, these arms have big claws that were used for grabbing and holding it´s prey, they have large heads that had large brains with an inteliigence beyond any other dinosaur. They have good smell, hearing and vision, in fact, raptors have nocturnal vision. They have a long tail that gave them the ability to turn in a fraction of a second, they have powerful legs that alllowed raptors to jump incredible heights, run at speeds of 45 mph and kick with a force that is twice as powerful as their own body weight. But their main weapon is a sickle-shape killing claw on their foot, they are used for killing it´s prey by opening big gashes on their backs with powerful, disembowling strokes. Males are presumably more durable than females, as the team was able to put a female to sleep with one dart and it took as much as three for the male. In reality, this animal can grow to 3-4 meters long, and 1.5 - 1.8 meters tall. The Dromaeosaur species said in The Lost Island is not revealed, but it´s said they have a resemblance to the ones in the shopping mall in Episode 2.1, so the number of deaths caused by the raptor is probably six humans killed, three or four creatures killed (including the baby raptor that was canibalized). The jaws of Dromaeosaurs were shown to make them grab things very firmly and attach them very strongly to things, like in Episode 3.10 where one of the jumping raptors clamps down on the tree branch and hold on for a little time, and episode 4.1, where the Raptor, in the fight with Spinosaurus, bites him in the skull and hold on it, even though the Spinosaurus was shaking it´s head from side to side. Young Raptors appear to be black with a blue back while when full grown they lost it. Raptors appear to be very cannibalistic, as it´s shown that the dinosaur they were eating in Episode 3.10 were another raptor, they appear to have jaws that are more used for slashing than the adult jaws, not grabbing. Raptor Species Confusion The species of raptor in the series is very uncertain, the ITV site now says it´s Dromeosaurus, but ITV site once said it was Deinonychus, the BBC America site says it´s Deinonychus and the creature in the series is the same size as Deinonychus, the species in Primeval is probably Deinonychus, altough in one point the ITV site states it is Utahraptor, Dromeosaurus is the name of the raptor family as well and Primeval Evolved once said it was Velociraptor. Primeval's raptors were originally thought to be Velociraptor, Deinonychus or even Utahraptor (probably the least likely theory due to it's size), however, the official website revealed them to be a species of Dromaeosaurus instead (an undiscovered species at that, because in the show it is shown they live in Africa, 95 million years ago, where no Dromaeosaurus has ever been found however the ones in series 2 may be a different species to the ones seen in series 3 and 4). It could be this the Raptors in series 3 and 4 Deltadromeus,but this is unlikely because Deltadromeus are too big to be the raptors and don´t have the foot claw that raptors have. The raptors in Series 2 have been shown to be exactly the same size and shape as Deinonychus, he was also shown living in the same desert as Pteranodon, which lived close to Deinonychus, in almost the same time, the raptors in Series 3 and 4 are shown to have the protofeathers on it´s back blue, while the Series 2 ones have black ones, the Raptor in Series 2 were in the time confirmed to be Deinonychus, but the Series 3 and 4 ones are the size of Dromeosaurus. This is the most logical theory wet, although this don´t explain why the Dromeosaurus was living in Africa, although it´s probably an undiscovered African Raptor. Numerous genera of dromaeosaurids have been thought to be Primeval's raptors including: Dromaeosaurus, Deinonychus, Velociraptor, Utahraptor, Unenlagia, Unquillosaurus (which might not be a dromaeosaur), Troodon (which isn't a dromaeosaur, but a troodont), and Deltadromeus (which is a large ceratosaur, so is the least likely of all). In Primeval Episode 2.1 Three Dromaeosaurus - two adults and a baby - came through an anomaly to a shopping mall. They killed two security guards, and the baby attacked and wounded The Cleaner. One also nearly got hold of Connor, but he narrowly escaped. The raptors had 'protofeathers' all over their body. These could be shivered, making a hissing noise. This could be used when threatened, or as communication with other raptors. The baby was eaten by an adult, but both adults were sent back, tranquilized. However, one regained consciousness and chased Stephen Hart and Nick Cutter who had returned the Dromaeosaurus to its period. Nick made it through but the raptor caught Stephen's ankle. With the help of the rest of the team, he was pulled through the anomaly just as it was closing. The raptor was killed, as the closing anomaly severed its head. Episode 2.6/2.7 Two male Dromaeosaurus are captive as part of Oliver Leek's creature army. A plausible suggestion is that they came in with the family pair in the mall and were caught by the Cleaner and/or the Cleaner Army as the baby was found in his locker. The baby was probably caught by the cleaner and stuffed in his locker but killed him when it came back. Furthermore, Dromaeoasaurs are famous pack hunters therefore it would have made sense. One was killed by Stephen wielding a Glock 17 and the other was killed by the other creatures. Leek also got another Dromeosaur because one was killed by Stephen, but in the time that the creatures are gathering to kill him, another Dromeosaur is seen. Episode 3.10 Episode 4.1 Trivia *This is the second instance where the infant of a creature has been seen, the first being the Future Predator. *This is the first actual species of dinosaur that the team has encountered. *This is the only creature which shows sexual dimorphism, the males have blue spots around the eyes, females do not. *The Dromaeosaurus has been voted the fan's favorite creature. *These are the first creatures that Nick Cutter encounters after changing the past and losing Claudia Brown in Episode 1.6. *The brief fight sequence between the Spinosaurus and Dromaeosaurus is an obvious homage to a mirrored scenario depicted in Jurassic Park, between the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Velociraptor. If you listen carefully to when the Dromaeosaurus is caught in the Spinosaurus’ jaws, the sound bites of the Velociraptor squeals from the Jurassic Park series can be heard as the Dromaeosaurus screams. *The ever-so-slight change in colours of the raptors between series 2 and 3 (black and white) and series 4 (blueish and off-white) could been explained as a mating season change, as the raptor Abby and Connor encoutered was building a bower to attract a mate. *Discounting the Coelurosauravus (Rex) and the Diictodon (Sid and Nancy), Dromaeosaurus are the programme's second most recurring creature, after the Future Predators. They've appeared in five episodes to date: Episode 2.1, Episode 2.6, Episode 2.7, Episode 3.10, and Episode 4.1,also Tim Haines said that Raptors will be reaperring in Series 5 *The Raptors are shown to be very aggressive towards other animals. This is proven in Episode 2.7, when a Raptor snaps at the Arthropleura and can be heard scrapping with a Smilodon and later snapping at a Future Predator. Also, in Episode 4.1 one attacks a Spinosaurus. *In contrast to their portrayal popular culture, the raptors presented in Primeval are anti-heroic. For example, in Episode 3.10, hadn’t the adult raptor attacked and killed Helen Cutter, she would have most certainly wiped out the human race. In Episode 4.1, a solitary male raptor was shown unintentionally saving and giving Abby and Connor enough time to escape into the present by battling it out with a massive Spinosaurus that was blocking their path. *The Raptor has a disembowling claw on it's foot that can easily tear open a man, but the raptor is only shown using it's jaws to attack. This is an example of creatures that have an special ability but only use it very rarely like the Future Predator's ability to stay invisible, the raptor has never used his claw, like the Pristichampsus' ability of running on two legs. This was most likely done to keep Primeval at a PG or PG-13 rating. (*Actually, Raptor claws weren't built for disembowling, they were used for stabbing victims necks or just to slice like the rest of their claws.But some raptors can open the victims with a strike from the claw,some have claws powerful enough to to that) *This is the third creature to kill an antagonist (Helen Cutter, the Giant Scorpion killed Sciswell, then a pack of Future Predators killed Oliver Leek. *This is the only creature introduced in Series 2 to appear in Series 3. Errors *Dromaeosaurus probably had feathers very similar to those of modern birds, as found on some other Dromaeosaurs. This is represented by the scale-like proto-feathers. *The Dromaeosaurus in Primeval are much larger than in real life- they are shown to be as tall as an adult human, but the real Dromaeosaurus were about the size of a wolf. Perhaps they're actually Deinonychus? *Dromeosaurus didn't live with Spinosaurus in Africa, though probably some came through a different anomaly, this would explain why it didn't see the Spinosaurus as a threat though there is also a possibility that the Spinosaurus came through a different anomaly which is more likely, or the most likely which is that the raptor is not a Dromaeosaurus and a currently undiscovered African raptor. Although this does not mean that the series 2 raptors are not dromeosaurus and they probably are due to the fact that they live in a different landscape (which could be the southern united states) and they make different noises to the series 3/4 ones. It also could be possible that in the Primeval universe there are "basic" places (Areas where multiple creatures from roughly the same time all live together despite being on seperate continents). Gallery Episode2.1 3.jpg Episode2.1 9.jpg Episode2.1 20.jpg Episode2.1 24.jpg Episode2.1 25.jpg Episode2.1 31.jpg Episode2.1 32.jpg Episode2.1 34.jpg Episode2.1 36.jpg Episode2.1 37.jpg Episode2.1 39.jpg Episode2.1 44.jpg Episode2.1 45.jpg Episode2.7 23.jpg Episode2.7 48.jpg Episode2.7 50.jpg Episode3.10 27.jpg Episode3.10 34.jpg Episode3.10 35.jpg Episode3.10 38.jpg Episode3.10 39.jpg Episode3.10 45.jpg Episode3.10 46.jpg Episode3.10 48.jpg Episode4.1 30.jpg SpinosaurusVSraptor.jpg Episode4.1 37.jpg Promotional Images Raptors promo.jpg Raptor.jpg Raptors vs Abby + Connor.gif Series 4 Spino vs Raptor.jpg|Ouch. External links *BBC America's Raptor Page *ITV's Dromaeosaurus Page Category:Creatures Category:Dinosaurs Category:Series 2 Creatures Category:Series 3 Creatures Category:Series 4 Creatures Category:Cretaceous creatures Category:Creatures that cause deaths